ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The core of the Toronto Maple Leafs may now be in place, but the real construction still needs to be done.
The $49-million, seven-year extension that captain Dion Phaneuf finally signed on Tuesday should come as no surprise to anyone who has been paying attention during the NHL’s salary cap era. An asset like Phaneuf is too valuable to simply let walk away in free agency and the team paid fair market value for a high-end defenceman – especially since the salary cap is expected to skyrocket in the years ahead.
With the Phaneuf business aside, the most burning issue facing general manager Dave Nonis is finding a way to transform this team into a contender.
The Leafs now have about $34-million annually tied up in a core of Phaneuf, Phil Kessel, Joffrey Lupul, David Clarkson, James van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak. All of those players are signed through at least 2017-18, but Nonis is quick to point out that none of them has a no-movement clause in his contract.
That was the final stumbling block in negotiations with Phaneuf, who ended up agreeing to a limited no-trade clause that will see him submit a list of teams where he can be moved each season. While Nonis wouldn’t reveal how many teams are on that list, it is believed to be in double digits.
As a result, the Leafs feel like they have the flexibility to change on the fly if this core group doesn’t prove to be good enough. None of them should get too complacent despite playing on long-term deals.
"The core is always going to be somewhat moveable," Nonis said Tuesday. "It’s not locked in stone for eight years that these guys are all going to be here. We signed them because we believe that they’re part of a winning team, that they can be part of something.
"But it doesn’t mean that we’re locked into anybody."
The Leafs management group knows that the team won’t do anything but spin its wheels over the next five years if it doesn’t develop or acquire more high-quality pieces. That is what makes the recent trade rumours surrounding Nazem Kadri and Jake Gardiner so interesting.
In theory, both of those players could fit that description if they reach their potential. However, there seems to be at least some doubt in the front office about that happening any time soon – particularly after Kadri’s recent so-so stint as the first-line centre and a handful of healthy scratches for Gardiner earlier this season.
Toronto is also heading into an important off-season with seven unrestricted free agents and three restricted free agents to make decisions on. It doesn’t take a mathematician to figure out that there won’t be room under the salary cap for all of them, even with the expectation that it will hit $72-million next season.
That leaves a number of items on Nonis’s plate in the months ahead and there’s every reason to expect some roster changes as a result. After a 20-16-5 start to this season, there is a feeling around the upper reaches of the Leafs organization that this group should be performing better.
"I like this team, I like the pieces Dave’s put together," MLSE president Tim Leiweke told Sportsnet on Tuesday. "But we’ve got to have a killer instinct and a determination and a commitment in order to pay the price necessary to win (the Stanley Cup). That’s something that we’re not there yet.
"We’re working on how we’ve got to get there."
One of the key aspects in the way Nonis has constructed his core is making sure none of them are signed to long-term deals beyond age 35. That is why Phaneuf’s contract ended up coming in at seven years rather than the maximum eight allowed under the collective bargaining agreement.
The team has also included some small details in the long-term deals that could make them more tradeable down the line. For example, all but $9-million of Clarkson’s $36.75-million contract is paid out in yearly one-time signing bonuses – which means that he’ll carry a higher cap hit than the actual amount of salary owed in the later years of the deal.
Phaneuf’s extension is front-loaded as well and will pay him $8-million each of the first two seasons before dropping off. It is also structured similar to the Clarkson deal with some of the salary from each season paid out in a yearly bonus.
More than anything, the contract is evidence that the 28-year-old believes he’ll have a chance to win a championship in Toronto even if he’ll need some help from his GM for to make it happen. The defenceman never seriously considered pursuing free agency and called it an "easy decision" to sign his new contract.
"I really believe that we’re building something special," said Phaneuf. "I think that we’ve grown. Since the time that I’ve been here to now is night and day. It’s a very big decision and one that I’m very happy with."
